~ by Terry Walters
Luke 14:7-14
A few years ago, my two brothers,
our dad, and I went to a softball
tournament in Oklahoma City.
We didn't have the best seats in the
stadium, but ours were rather good.
Depending on what tickets you bought,
they were good for the two games
in that session, or like ours,
were called season tickets and
were good for the whole tourney.
One can often find seats that have been
purchased but are not occupied.
Maybe their team doesn't play until later.
Maybe they already lost, and
the spectator chose to go on home.
Sometimes people sit in those unoccupied
seats hoping the ticket holder doesn't
show and they get to use these
seats that are better than theirs.
I watched a young man do just
that a few rows below us. About an
inning into the game he had to move
because the ticket holders showed up.
I watched him move over a section
to another unoccupied seat.
You guessed it! About two innings
later, those seat owners showed up, too!
He moved on again - probably to
another seat belonging to someone else.
He had a ticket, but it was apparently
for a seat that was not as good
as those he was trying to use.
Personally, I would have been embarrassed
to have been caught twice at
trying to use someone else's seat!
It's not quite the same as the parable,
but Jesus said to stay humble and don't
try to take the best seats for yourself.
Someone who actually should be
in that seat may come to replace
you and you will be humbled.
It is best to be humble
or else you may get humbled!
Prayer: Lord, help us to never think more
highly of ourselves than we ought,
but rather, as the Bible says, to
esteem others better than ourselves.
P.S.: Playing golf with a friend one day, I
watched some men practice chipping out of a
sand trap. I jokingly said that I didn't
need to practice that since I don't
ever hit the ball into sand traps!
We then went on to the next hole, which
had a sand trap along the side of the fairway.
It shouldn't have been any problem, but
naturally, my drive went right into it!
My friend said that should teach me
not to open my big mouth!
He who exalts himself shall be humbled!
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